


Frag Grenade

by rauqthetommo



Series: Crossfire [18]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst and Smut, Arguing, Bill Denbrough is a Bad Friend, Bill Denbrough is a Good Friend, Blow Jobs, Canon Divergence - No Pennywise, Caring Richie Tozier, Cliffhangers, Couch Sex, Declarations Of Love, Eddie Kaspbrak is Bad at Feelings, Eddie Kaspbrak is a Mess, Hitman AU, Implied Sexual Content, Intrusive Thoughts, Love Confessions, M/M, Mentions of Fostercare, Mentions of Gun Violence, Mentions of Murder/Death, Mentions of Violence, Mentions of neglect, Mike Hanlon is a Good Friend, Minor Eddie Kaspbrak/Original Character(s), Non-Explicit Sex, OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Sensitive Richie Tozier, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Smut, Soft Richie Tozier, for like 2 seconds, it's cool, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:27:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24357292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rauqthetommo/pseuds/rauqthetommo
Summary: Following the events of Ignition Bomb:Things come to a head following the Meyer Party; Richie struggles to keep himself and Eddie out of danger with the help of Bill and Mike, Eddie is unsettled by the whole situation and tries to steady his nerves.An excerpt from this work:Eddie woke up on Richie’s chest, which wasn’t really ideal, but whatever. Eddie had made the decision the night before that he needed to get out. He wasn’t really sure how or what to do, but he figured he couldn’t hang around with Richie anymore. It wasn’t safe. For either of them.When Richie woke up he started crying, holding Eddie tightly to him and pressing kisses into his hair while he wept. He whispered over and over again that everything was going to be ok, and that he’d take care of this, but Eddie didn’t see any possible fucking way any of that could be true. He didn’t say anything, though.When Richie left for his lunch with Bill, Eddie decided to go for a walk and try to work his nerves and thoughts out, so he locked up his apartment, grabbed his inhaler and his rape whistle, and took off down the stairs, ignoring Mr. Lee and his snide comments in Mandarin when he passed him in the hallway.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: Crossfire [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1658356
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	Frag Grenade

**Author's Note:**

> Another cliffhanger, sorry.

Eddie woke up on Richie’s chest, which wasn’t really ideal, but whatever. Eddie had made the decision the night before that he needed to get out. He wasn’t really sure how or what to do, but he figured he couldn’t hang around with Richie anymore. It wasn’t safe. For either of them.

When Richie woke up he started crying, holding Eddie tightly to him and pressing kisses into his hair while he wept. He whispered over and over again that everything was going to be ok, and that he’d take care of this, but Eddie didn’t see any possible fucking way any of that could be true. He didn’t say anything, though.

When Richie left for his lunch with Bill, Eddie decided to go for a walk and try to work his nerves and thoughts out, so he locked up his apartment, grabbed his inhaler and his rape whistle, and took off down the stairs, ignoring Mr. Lee and his snide comments in Mandarin when he passed him in the hallway.

***

Richie had had stress dreams all night. He’d barely been able to fall asleep, only finally getting a few hours of rest after pure exhaustion overtook him.

Richie had agreed to meet Bill and Mike at Bill’s apartment, not wanting to go to Hog’s and risk being seen by whoever was after him, so Richie donned his usual ‘sneaky’ clothes and took an Uber over to Bill’s.

Bill looked exhausted when he opened his door, gesturing Richie inside and pulling him into a hug. “I’m sorry,” Bill mumbled, cheek resting against Richie’s chest.

“For what?” Richie asked softly, rubbing his hands up and down Bill’s back.

“For all of this.” Bill pulled back and shook his head, dragging his hand through his hair. “Th-this is my fault, Rich. I shouldn’t have told you to lie to Duh-damien.” He chewed his bottom lip. “I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing we can do about that now. Right now we need to figure out how to stop Damien from killing me. And Eddie.”

“I’m almost positive that Hayes doesn’t know who Eddie is.” Mike stepped into the living room, leaning against the doorway. “Hey, Rich.”

“Hey, Mikey.”

“Based on what I could find, Eddie doesn’t even seem to be on Hayes’s radar.” Mike settled onto Bill’s couch and gestured for Richie to join him. “Who did you say Eddie’s old handler was, Bill?”

“Beverly Marsh.” Bill sank down into his armchair, wringing his hands together.

Mike nodded, pulling his laptop off of the coffee table and onto his lap. “That’s what I thought,” He typed something on his keyboard, dark eyes scanning the screen. “Hayes has never hired anyone Beverly employs, at least none that I can find.”

“But Eddie’s muh-mine now.” Bill said.

“Has Damien Hayes hired Eddie through you before?” Mike asked.

“Just for the Allen job.” Bill replied.

“Which came through me,” Mike reminded him. “It was my job that I passed off, and you recommended Richie because Hayes was pissed at him. He probably doesn’t even remember that you put Eddie on that job, too.”

“So Eddie is safe?” Richie asked, laying his hand on Mike’s arm to get his attention.

“For now, yes.” Mike nodded.

“We need to worry about _you_ , Rich.” Bill pressed.

“That’s a little trickier.” Mike shook his head. “Damien is really mad, Rich.”

“I know,” Richie pushed his glasses back up. “How can I fix this?”

Mike shook his head again. “I don’t know if you can. Damien isn’t the kind of guy that likes being lied to. We’re honestly lucky he’s not after all of us.” He frowned over at Bill. “Me for dropping the job, you for backing Richie on the lie, Stan and Patty for taking you guys in after the accident. I think he’s only after you because of the other jobs you, uh. Didn’t complete?”

“Fucked up, you mean.” Richie slumped against the couch and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Yes,” Mike nodded. “This isn’t good, Rich.”

“Yeah, no fucking shit.” Richie groaned, rubbing at his eyes under his glasses. “This is a fucking nightmare.”

“I think the best option right now is for you to leave.” Mike said.

“Leave?” Richie frowned at him.

“Skip town. Get away from LA, you can take Eddie with you, live off your savings for a while until you can find a job or something.” Mike closed his laptop and set it back on the coffee table.

“Won’t Hayes come after you guys next?” Richie looked between the two of them. “If he really wants me dead so badly, won’t he come looking for me?”

“We can’t tell him what we don’t know.” Mike said.

“I won’t put my other men in danger, Mikey.” Bill spoke up. “Richie’s right. Damien wuh-will come looking for him. He’ll come after all of us.” He looked over to Richie apologetically. “I’m sorry, Rich.”

Richie felt like crying. Bill was basically telling him he wasn’t worth protecting. “You’d let me die, Big Bill?”

Bill coughed, tears sliding down his cheeks. “I’m so s-s-s-sorry, Richie. I wish there was more I could d-do to help you. But if Hayes wants you dead, then—“

“We could always fake your death.” Mike cut in.

Richie and Bill turned to look at him. “What?” Richie asked.

“Damien would have no reason to come after the rest of us if you thinks you’re dead. It wouldn’t really be that hard to fake, I don’t think. Blow up your car or burn down your apartment building or something.” Mike shrugged. “Then you and Eddie could split town. And we’d all be safe.”

Richie looked back to Bill, watching as he chewed on his lip. He was quiet for a while, thinking, before he finally spoke up. “That might work.” 

***

Eddie wasnt’t really sure how he ended up in the baby food isle at the grocery store, but he was there now. He stood in front of the shelf stuffed with jars upon jars of mush, frowning. When he was 9, one of the foster homes he’d been in that year had served him, and the other children there, nothing but baby food. At the time he thought it was a punishment for their poor behavior, but now he was almost positive that it was because it was so cheap. He knew foster parents got paid a certain amount from the government for each kid, and all of this baby food was, like, 50 cents a jar, so between that and all of the hand-made and second-hand clothes they’d been forced to wear, his foster parents must have been making absolute bank off of him and the other kids they had there at the time.

“Sir?”

Eddie pulled his attention away from the shelf, whipping his head to the side to see who was speaking to him. It was an employee, standing just to his left, twisting a plain silver ring on his middle finger. “Sorry, what?”

“I asked if you needed any help?” The employee smiled at him.

“Oh,” Eddie glanced back at the baby food jars. “No, uhm.” He shook his head. “Sorry, I guess I just got a little distracted.” He blinked at the smiling infant on one of the jars of orange mush.

They didn’t speak for a moment, the employee just watching Eddie stare down the gerber baby. “Expecting?” He asked.

“Hm?” Eddie looked back at him, taking a second to register what he’d asked. “Oh, no.” He shook his head, eyebrows knit. “No, not at all, god. I’m happily childfree.”

“Congratulations,” The employee laughed.

“Thanks,” Eddie smiled back at him, looking him over. He looked around Eddie’s age, maybe a few years older. “What’s your name?”

“Richie,” He flashed Eddie another smile.

“Oh, that’s funny.” Eddie smiled too. “My b— uh, coworker is also named Richie.”

“Small world,” New Richie commented.

“Extremely,” Eddie agreed. He was cute. Really cute. He had floppy brown hair, parted down the middle and hanging down past his temples, with big blue eyes and a cocky smile, corners of his lips turning up as he spoke. “What time do you get out of work, Richie?”

***

“That was really great, Eddie.” New Richie said, slipping his hoodie on in the doorway of Eddie’s apartment.

“Yeah, for sure.” Eddie smiled dismissively, trying to usher New Richie out into the hall.

“Can I see you again?”

“Oh,” Eddie blinked, surprised. He hadn’t expected anything more than a quick fuck out of this. “Uh, yeah, definitely. I’ll come back into the store. I’ll need to buy groceries, you know.” Eddie inched his front door closed, hoping New Richie would take the hint to fuck off, but he didn’t.

“Oh, well I was thinking more along the lines of me getting your number.”

“Oh man,” Eddie winced, trying to look sorry. “I just got a new phone number, so I don’t really know it by heart yet.”

New Richie frowned. “You could just go grab it?”

Eddie laughed, the door only open about halfway now. “Y’know, it’ll probably just be easier to come back into the store.”

New Richie nodded slowly. “Ok, yeah.”

“Ok, cool.” Eddie smiled at him, trying to make the whole situation less awkward. “Alright, bye.” He shut the door and turned back to his now empty apartment, sighing and running his hand through his hair.

He had no intention of ever seeing New Richie again. He’d even go to a new grocery store if he had to. The sex had been fine, whatever, but for some reason he hadn’t enjoyed it like he thought he would. “Maybe he was just small.” He said to himself, walking back into his bedroom.

But he wasn’t. New Richie had stood at at least 6 feet tall, much taller than Eddie’s own height of 5’6, and his dick wasn’t small either. It had been respectable, above average, pretty girthy, even, but it just hadn’t done it for Eddie.

He couldn’t figure out why. He racked his brain as he pulled out his pocket knife and carved another slash into his bedpost. He’d let Eddie take control, which was exactly what he’d wanted. He’d let Eddie ride him and bite him and scratch down his chest. But he hadn’t been rough enough with him. He hadn’t slapped him, even when Eddie asked him to. He wouldn’t call him names like he’d asked, there was no dirty talk. He’d gotten off, but that was about it.

Eddie closed his knife and placed it down on his bedside table, running his fingers over the cuts in the wood of his bed frame. Nineteen. Nineteen men that he’d slept with. He slid his hand all the way down the post, wrapping his fingers around the cold metal of the handcuffs he kept there. When he pulled them up from under the blankets, his mind flashed to Richie.

Richie letting Eddie cuff him to the bed and ride him, hard.

Richie lacing their fingers together when Eddie leaned forward to kiss him.

Richie running his hands up and down Eddie’s back while Eddie pulled his hair.

Richie’s glasses knocking into Eddie’s face while they twisted their tongues together.

But even more than that.

He thought of Richie holding his hand while Stanley stitched him up after the car accident.

Richie holding Eddie on his chest after sex, tracing invisible patterns on his skin.

Richie pulling Eddie onto his lap and brushing his hair out of his face while they watched tv on the couch.

Richie kissing up Eddie’s stomach and over his thighs before going down on him.

Eddie ran his pointer finger and thumb over the curve of the metal, holding it there in his hand while memories of Richie rolled through his head. “Shit,” He said out loud.

In the other room, his phone began ringing. The default marimba tone traveled through the apartment, prompting Eddie to release the handcuffs and walk to the living room. “Hello?” He pressed the phone to his ear.

“Eddie?” A woman asked.

“Who’s this?” He furrowed his brow.

“It’s Beverly.”

Eddie paused, blinking. “Bev?” He licked his lips. “Jesus, Bev, it’s been so long.”

“How has Bill been treating you?”

“Fine, yeah.”

“Giving you good jobs?”

“Yeah—“

“I have something for you.” Beverly interrupted. “A job.”

“Oh,” Eddie blinked, unsure of what to do. When Bev had passed him over to Bill he assumed that was the end of things. He didn’t know if Beverly was ever going to come back. He certainly didn’t know if she was going to be giving him any more assignments. “Ok, uh, wh—“

“I’m having a courier drop off the file.” Bev had barely finished her sentence when a file slid under his front door.

“Oh,” Eddie listened to the receding footsteps of the courier down the hall. “How much?”

“Nine,”

Eddie scoffed, leaning down to pick up the folder. “9 grand? What? Am I killing a kindergartener?”

“Nine hundred,”

“$900?!” Eddie tossed the file onto his coffee table. “Am I stepping on an ant? One that isn’t very fast?”

“Nine hundred thousand, Eddie.”

Eddie thought for a second his nose might start bleeding. “A million dollars?” He asked quietly.

“Nearly,” Bev said.

“Is my mark the Czar of Russia?” Eddie sat down hard on his couch.

“You have until the end of the week,” Bev said instead of an answer.

“That’s 4 days.” Eddie frowned.

“Let me know if there’s any problems, Eddie.” Beverly said, not waiting for a response before hanging up.

Eddie swallowed hard, staring at the folder in front of him. It looked just like any other mark file he’d ever gotten, nothing special or different about it. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly before flipping it open. “Shit,”

***

Eddie had been sitting silently on the couch for over an hour when Richie walked in. “Hey, Eds.” Richie shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over the arm of the couch.

“Hey,” Eddie said quietly, barely turning his head when Richie leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.

“You ok?” Richie sat next to him on the couch.

“Yeah,” Eddie nodded slowly. “How did lunch with Bill go?”

“Ok,” Richie frowned. “Eds, were you just sitting here in the dark?”

“Uhm,” Eddie blinked and shook his head, finally turning to look at Richie. “No, I actually just sat down, I was gonna watch some tv.”

“Alright,” Richie leaned forward and grabbed the tv remote off the table, flipping it on and changing to a sitcom. “You sure you’re ok, Eddie? You seem a little off.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Eddie smiled at him.

_He knows you’re lying._

“Yeah?” Richie sounded nervous, and Eddie briefly wondered if Richie’s meeting with Bill hadn’t gone well. He honestly couldn’t imagine that it had, based on their current situation.

“Yeah.” Eddie nodded.

_It’s written all over your idiot face._

“Come here, Eds.” Richie held his arms open and pulled Eddie onto his lap. “Mm, I missed you.” Richie mumbled, pressing his face into the side of Eddie’s hair.

“You weren’t even gone that long.” Eddie said softly, eyes locked on the tv as Richie began peppering kisses over his neck.

“I still missed you, though.” Richie slid his hands up Eddie’s thighs, pulling him closer. “Eds?” Richie pulled back, pushing Eddie’s hair off of his forehead. “You sure you’re ok? Are you spiraling?”

_This is bad, you fucking moron. Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad ba—_

“No, of course not.” Eddie tried for a smile.

_—bad bad bad bad bad bad—_

“I’m fine, really.”

Eddie reached up and pulled Richie's glasses off, leaning forward and setting them on the coffee table. Richie wrapped his arms around Eddie again, pulling him closer and pressing their lips together in a soft kiss. Eddie deepened it, turning his head and parting his lips, sucking Richie’s tongue into his mouth and bringing his hands up to cup Richie’s face. Richie moaned softly as Eddie licked behind his teeth, grinding down in his lap. “Fuck, Eddie.” Richie reached between them and quickly moved to unbutton Eddie’s pants, pushing Eddie off of his lap so he was lying flat on his back on the couch.

Eddie pushed himself up onto his elbows and watched as Richie yanked his pants off of his legs, tossing them aside. He left kisses all along Eddie’s legs, from his ankles to his thighs, and up over his tummy, meeting Eddie’s gaze as he took the head of Eddie’s cock in his mouth. “God, Rich.” Eddie mumbled, reaching down to fist his hand in Richie’s dark curls. “Fuck, that feels so good.”

Richie hummed around him, sending vibrations up his spine and out through his shoulder blades. Richie continued bobbing, letting Eddie’s length slide into his throat again and again, all the while running his thumbs in circles over Eddie’s hipbones. Eddie pulled on Richie’s hair, digging his head into the cushions of the couch as he arched his back to buck up into the tight wetness of Richie’s mouth. Richie pulled off for a second, quickly wrapping his hand around Eddie and stroking him up and down, twisting his wrist. “You look so fucking pretty, Eds.” Richie said quietly.

“I’m close, Rich.” Eddie gasped out as Richie sucked a mark into his tummy. “Keep going, Richie, I’m so fucking close.”

“I love you,” Richie said softly, lips still pressed to Eddie’s skin.

Eddie’s eyes flew open at that. “What?” He demanded, sitting up and pushing Richie off of him. “What the fuck did you just say to me?”

Richie looked confused, eyebrows knit together. “I—“ He picked up his glasses off of the coffee table and slid them back on. “I love you.”

Eddie blinked, chest tight.

_You need your inhaler._

“What is _wrong_ with you?”

“Nothing.” Richie placed his hand on Eddie’s shin. “I love you, Eddie.”

Eddie jerked his leg back, pulling his knees up to his chest. “You don’t love me.”

“Yes, I do. I—“ Richie shook his head, sliding forward in the couch and placing his hands on Eddie’s thighs. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, Eddie. I love you so much.”

Eddie’s chest felt like it was closed off, nothing going in or out. “I fucked someone else today.” Richie didn’t answer, just kept frowning. “I met him at the grocery store. I don’t even remember his name.” He did. It was Richie, but he thought fucking some anonymous guy sounded better when try to spurn someone’s advances.

“We never said we were exclusive.” Richie said.

Eddie scoffed at that. “We never said we were anything! Because we aren’t!”

“Eddie, you can’t tell me that you don’t feel something here.”

“I can, because I don’t.”

“Eddie—“

“You’re my mark, Richie.”

The silence that hung in the air was so heavy Eddie was convinced it could have crushed them to death. “What?” Richie frowned at him.

“I got a call from Beverly today. Damien Hayes hired me to kill you.”

Richie studied him. “You’re lying.”

“Fuck you,” Eddie sat forward and pushed Richie’s shoulder. “I’m not a fucking liar, Richie.” He leaned down and pulled the file from under his couch, tossing it into Richie’s lap. “Look for yourself, if you don’t believe me.”

Richie read over the file slowly, running his fingers over the picture of himself stapled to the inside of the front cover. When he looked up, the tears in his eyes made Eddie’s heart clench. “You didn’t accept this, did you?”

“It’s a big payout, Richie.”

“Eddie, you can’t kill me.” Richie sounded choked. “I don’t care how much they’re promising you, I know you can’t kill me.”

“You don’t know me at all,” Eddie retrieved his discarded jeans and yanked them up his legs.

“Eddie,” Richie stood and dropped the file back onto the couch. “I know you better than anyone. I know you better than I know myself.”

“Richie—“

“I thought you were done with Bev? You said it yourself, you said she abandoned you. She dumped you on Bill like you were nothing.”

“She was protecting me.”

“From what?”

Eddie shook his head. “I don’t—“

“Bill and I, we’re who’s been here for you! Us and Stanley! And Patty, too! We care about you, Eddie!” He placed his hands on Eddie’s shoulders.

Eddie shook him off. “You’re nothing but a warm mouth to me.” Eddie’s voice cracked as he spoke. It felt like there was an elephant standing on his chest, but he couldn’t just suck on his inhaler now. He needed Richie to go.

“Eddie—“

“You need to leave, Richie.” Eddie put his hand on Richie’s elbow and guided him to the door. “You need to go, now. Leave, and don’t come back, Richie.” He shoved Richie out the front door, looking away a second too late. The look on Richie’s face broke Eddie’s heart as he slammed the door shut.

Once the door was closed and locked, Eddie stumbled back into his living room and sprayed his inhaler directly into his mouth, finally allowing himself to dissolve into tears, right there on his living room floor.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me anywhere! My handle for everything is @rauqthetommo! Feel free to ask me questions at all on my tumblr!


End file.
